This map shows the 22 counties and 14 communities that will participate in the Our State, Our Homes program. (Photo: Carolina Across 100)
To Maysville Town Manager Schumata Brown, a legislative proposal to claw back nearly $10 million in state money to build affordable housing in his tiny eastern North Carolina town would have been, had it succeeded, like Lucy yanking away a football just as Charlie Brown is about to kick it.
In this case, the football is the town’s plans for a 40-unit affordable housing apartment complex — Brown prefers to call it workforce housing because, based on salary, a rookie police officer and first-year teacher will qualify to live there — that nearly became collateral damage in a political fight playing out 130 miles to the west in Raleigh.
“We just felt it was detrimental to the town when we got that news,” Brown said. “You remember the [girl] who used to hold the ball for Charlie Brown, then just pulled it away? It felt like that and we were definitely worried.”
There is a great need for such housing in Maysville, according to Brown. Additional housing would allow the town of fewer than 1,000 to grow, he said.
“We might have some folks who want to move from [nearby] Jacksonville to a rural town,” Brown said. “I want to give them that opportunity.”
Legislative alarm and reprieve
Brown’s fears stemmed from word he received during the legislature’s December lame duck session that Senate Bill 382, the controversial 131-page omnibus measure that Republican legislators unveiled and passed in short order, might end up diverting community development money awarded to Maysville and other small, rural towns in order to help pay for disaster recovery efforts in western North Carolina. The original awards were made in 2023 by the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency’s (NCORR) using $43.2 million from its Affordable Housing Development Fund.
The legislation sparked controversy not because of the housing money but because of provisions in the bill Democrats and other critics complained stripped power from local governments as well as the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and State Superintendent of Public Instruction. All of those seats were won by Democrats in the November General Election.
Ultimately, the final version of the bill directed NCORR to follow through with the allocations to Maysville and the other communities, so when Republicans overrode Gov. Cooper’s veto of the bill, it was good news for Maysville, even if it wasn’t for state Democrats.
UNC program spurs local capacity
But more good news was on the way for the town and Jones County. The small, rural county was one of 22 chosen to participate in “Our State, Our Homes” — an initiative that’s part of the Carolina Across 100 program coordinated by the UNC School of Government that partners with communities in each of North Carolina’s 100 counties.
The 18-month initiative was launched by Carolina Across 100 with support from the School of Government’s Development Finance Initiative (DFI) and other university partners. Fourteen teams working in 22 counties will receive support to help address myriad challenges local leaders face in bringing affordable housing to their counties. The community teams made up of business, civic, education, nonprofit, faith-based and government leaders represent 22 counties from the mountains to the coast.
“Rural towns like ourselves, we lack capacity in a lot of areas,” said Brown, who led the Jones County effort to become one of the 22 counties selected for the program. “This is going to give us that capacity to be able to come up with strategies to bring affordable housing here, and not only get ideas from UNC but also from folks from 21 other counties across the state.”
Jones County Manager Kyle Smith said many Jones County residents are cost-burdened by housing, which means they spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs.
“They’re spending 30% or 40% of their income on housing costs, which leaves them with relatively low monetary amounts for resources for the rest of the month,” Smith said.
According to the N.C. Housing Coalition, 25% of renters and homeowners in Jones County spend more than 30% of income on housing costs. Forty-seven percent of renters in the county have trouble affording their homes. Meanwhile, 20% of homeowners struggle to afford their homes.
More than one million households in North Carolina are housing cost-burdened. That includes nearly one in five homeowners and almost half of the state’s renters. A limited supply of affordable housing, rising costs and other issues, make it difficult for community leaders to meet local needs for safe, accessible and affordable housing.
It’s hoped officials in counties that participate in the Our State, Our Homes initiative will emerge with a deeper understanding of housing issues, tools to improve community conversations around housing needs, local partners and increased knowledge and capacity to implement strategies for improving housing affordability.
“The initiative involves 14 teams addressing diverse issues such as tourism-driven housing shortages, supply constraints, and poor housing quality,” said Sarah Odio, associate director of DFI. “The Development Finance Initiative, part of UNC’s School of Government, will provide data and expertise to help these communities prioritize their needs and attract resources.”
Odio said the goal is to help teams develop strategies to address the specific housing needs in their communities.
“It is about access to affordable and stable housing with this initiative,” Odio said. “It’s really been about building capacity and every community is different.”
Natural disasters help spur widespread interest
Odio noted that Hurricane Helene has changed needs and priorities for counties in western North Carolina.
“Natural disasters change everything, we know that, but they also lay bare how big the issues were before,” Odio said.
She said DFI was working on affordability issues in the western part of the state long before Hurricane Helene. The storm will hopefully help community leaders more clearly define needs and speed up the development process, she said.
“The problem with development generally is that it is slow,” Odio said. “It does take more time than people want it to take. I think step one will be shaking out priorities so that they can figure out the first step, second step and third step.”
Anita Brown-Graham, director of the ncIMPACT Initiative and lead coordinator for Carolina Across 100, said she was struck by the passion and dedication conveyed by the groups who applied. Brown-Graham said 87 counties showed interest in the initiative and half of the state’s 100 counties applied.
“We know this means the interest is high and we are committed to sharing program resources and findings to help all North Carolina communities benefit from the work of the Our State, Our Homes teams,” Brown-Graham said in a statement.
UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts announced the program focusing on housing in September in response to community leaders who have named housing as a top challenge.
“This University exists to serve the people of this state,” Roberts said in a statement. “As such, the university is proud to offer this program bringing together experts, on our campus and in communities, who are focused on addressing housing needs in our state.”
Other counties chosen to participate in Our State, Our Homes, include Alexander, Anson, Ashe, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Carteret, Catawba, Chatham, Cumberland, Dare, Harnett, Henderson, Jackson, Lee, Madison, Rowan, Sampson, Transylvania, Warren, Watauga, and the City of Hendersonville (in Henderson County).